BRUINS NOTEBOOK: Paille has no problem moving back to fourth line

Saturday

May 10, 2014 at 8:24 PMMay 10, 2014 at 8:27 PM

Daniel Paille played on the Bruins' third line when he returned from a concussion, but despite scoring a goal in Game 2 against the Canadiens, he has since returned to the fourth line – and he doesn't mind at all.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

For almost any other player on almost any other team, this would be considered a demotion, and therefore a disappointment.

For Daniel Paille, it’s more like a homecoming.

The Bruins’ 30-year-old left wing, who missed the first round of the playoffs with what was believed to be a concussion, played Games 1-3 of their Round 2 series against the Canadiens on the third line, in place of injured Chris Kelly. Returns were pretty good: Paille scored a goal in Game 3, which the B’s rallied to win, 5-3.

But after losing Game 3 to fall behind in the series, 2-1, the Bruins made a switch. Matt Fraser, a natural goal-scorer, was called up from AHL Providence and played on the third line in Game 4, and Paille returned to where he has spent most of his time since midway through the 201-11 season – left wing on the fourth, aka “Merlot Line,” with center Gregory Campbell and right wing Shawn Thornton.

Disappointed, Dan?

“Right now, or even when it happened, no, not really,” Paille said. “It’s all about playing for the team, and I think right now we’re a better team (when we) roll four lines.”

That had sometimes been difficult during Games 1-3 against the Habs, in large part because the Bruins trailed so often. The B’s staged comebacks each time, but the Paille-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson trio didn’t contribute, despite extensive time in Habs territory. (Paille’s Game 2 goal gave the B’s a 1-0 lead.) The reconfigured Merlot Line, with either Justin Florek (Game 1) or Jordan Caron (Games 2-3) in Paille’s usual spot, wasn’t productive, either.

“There’s no doubt, when (Paille) is on that line, they are a better line,” Julien said of the “classic” version of the Merlot trio. “They’ve been together forever, so there is obviously chemistry there. There’s better knowledge of each other, so that’s certainly a plus.”

Because of injuries to Kelly, and then Paille, it had been close to a month since the B’s returned to the Paille-Campbell-Thornton line in Game 4. They weren’t quite in synch, but expected that to be the case very soon.

“We’ve been playing together for so many years, it should just become second nature at this point,” Paille said. “When you go back to your original line, you always believe you can go right back together. That wasn’t the case (in Game 4), but I think we’re ready to go now, for sure.”

Paille will stay ready to move up the depth chart if need be, but he’ll never be unhappy if he stays where he is.

“I’m good with where I play,” he said. “(It’s) part of my role … to be ready when called upon to play on higher lines, but I also know I’m a fourth-line player on this team, and I’m not going to change that.”

Whatever works: Caron, who played in the entire five-game series against the Red Wings, plus Games 2-3 against the Habs, was left with slightly mixed emotions about being cycled back out of the lineup by Fraser’s call-up.

“Obviously, I was disappointed not playing. I wanted to play,” said Caron, who scored his first career playoff goal in Game 3 at Detroit. “But we want to move on, like everyone else. The farther we go in the playoffs, the more chances I might get to play.

“I want to win; I want to win the Stanley Cup. Whatever it takes.”

Caron, 23, had only played two NHL playoff games before this season, his fourth as a pro. He’s now up to nine and hopes to tack on more, but he thinks what he has already done this post-season represents a step forward in his career.

“It tells me I can play in the playoffs,” Caron said. “It tells me I’ve done a good job staying ready, staying sharp, and that I can play with anybody.”

Around the boards: As was the case before Game 4, when Soderberg was the lone forward to skip the morning skate, there was only one absentee on Saturday morning – Milan Lucic. … Caron was joined as a healthy scratch by defenseman Andrei Meszaros. … The Habs scratched Daniel Briere, who has 113 points in 116 career playoff games, for the first time this post-season. Brandon Prust replaced Briere.

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